New Hampshire Police Standards and Training outlines budget targets, statutory clarifications and new responsibilities

John Skippa, director of New Hampshire Police Standards and Training, told Finance Division II that his agency’s FY26 request meets the governor’s target allocations while the agency asks the Legislature to make several statutory clarifications.

"The mission of New Hampshire Police Standards and Training is to shape, sustain, and strengthen the competency and professionalism of New Hampshire law enforcement in service to our state," Skippa said, introducing the agency and its staff, including business manager Max Schultz and business assistant manager Jessica Nichols.

Skippa said the agency’s adjusted authorized budget for FY25 is $6,805,527. The governor’s FY26 recommended request submitted for the agency is $6,364,508, a $441,019 (0.94%) reduction from FY25 adjusted authorized, and the FY27 efficiency request is listed at $6,363,988. He told the committee those submissions comply with the governor’s target allocations of $6,368,138 for each year of the next biennium.

Why it matters: Police Standards and Training (PST) regulates certification and training for more than 4,000 certified officers in New Hampshire, runs the full‑ and part‑time police academies and the Corrections Academy, convenes disciplinary hearings that can suspend or revoke certification, and operates a 77,000‑square‑foot training facility in Concord.

New responsibilities and statutory requests PST described multiple responsibilities added since 2022 that affect staffing and program needs. Skippa listed four requested statutory or rule changes within chapter 106: a clarification in the definition of police misconduct; authorization for appointment of a temporary member to the conduct review committee; clarification of reporting requirements for allegations of misconduct; and codifying the law enforcement accreditation commission (created initially by executive order) into statute.

Skippa said the agency has taken on duties from 2022 legislation and administrative changes, including: - SB 376 (2022 session) requiring PST to provide crisis intervention training with a target of at least one trained officer from every agency; - Executive Order 2022‑06 assigning PST responsibility for an accreditation program for law enforcement agencies (funded by DOJ grants and a small general‑fund operating budget); - HB 1682 (2022) establishing the law enforcement conduct review committee under PST; and - Administrative rule POL 403.01 increasing annual in‑service training hours from 8 hours to 24 hours by 2025.

Skippa told the committee that the conduct review committee and the newly defined statutory process put uniform definitions and due‑process steps in place for misconduct findings and publication of sustained findings on PST’s website. He described the historical ‘‘Lory’’ (exculpatory evidence schedule) list and said newer law and processes create a public finding process under RSA 106‑L.

Budget and staffing details Skippa and the agency said they are requesting to defund a vacant full‑time administrative position (position 18241) and move funds to support an IT Manager 2 position funded through DOIT’s budget (position 14294). PST reported sharing an IT manager previously and said fiscal offices had approved transferring funding to keep an IT manager in place through the end of the current biennium. The total cost cited for the DOIT position was $105,058.25 for FY26 and $110,238.48 for FY27.

Skippa described other line‑item adjustments: moving a records management software contract into the correct software class and reclassifying two building service positions to secure janitorial services under a contract (a net cost reduction compared with filling the full‑time positions). The agency described a recently completed RFP and a new multi‑year contract for records management approved by Governor’s Council; PST said FY26 and FY27 costs reflect the new contract and that a short overlap with the previous vendor may appear in the FY25 adjusted numbers.

Training volume and academy operations Skippa said PST ran an expanded number of full‑time academies during the recent recruitment surge (four full‑time academies over 2½ years) and was returning to three full‑time academies per year while maintaining two corrections academies and one part‑time academy in 2025. He said PST planned for flexibility to run more part‑time or court‑security academies if need and funding permitted. Current class size is about 65 recruits per full‑time academy; recruit attrition averages roughly 2.5 per class in the first week, with additional separation later in training.

On the part‑time certification program, Skippa said PST and the Police Standards and Training Council are assessing whether to continue the program, noting many states eliminated part‑time certification after recent reform waves. He said part‑time classes commonly enroll only 10–12 recruits, which strains resources for firearms and driving instruction even when numbers are small.

Crisis Intervention Training and funding mechanics Committee members asked about crisis intervention training funding created by SB 376 (2022). PST said a continuously appropriated, non‑lapsing fund established by that law provides money for training (the agency estimated roughly $800,000 remained in the account). The agency asked the committee to clarify in rulemaking the status and carryforward of the appropriated and non‑lapsing funds and confirmed the Department of Safety and Attorney General offices retain oversight where the exculpatory evidence schedule is concerned.

Committee follow‑ups requested Members pressed for more detail on position reallocations, why certain personal‑services and temporary positions vary year to year, and line‑by‑line transfers between classes (e.g., records management software moving from class 24 into technology lines and contractual janitorial services moving into class 48). PST agreed to provide follow‑up spreadsheets showing where prior vendor costs drop out and how overlapping transition costs affect the current biennium numbers.

The agency also agreed to provide more detailed demographics for recruit classes (age/gender/in‑state vs. out‑of‑state) and an order‑of‑magnitude estimate of savings if the part‑time certification were reduced or eliminated.

Ending PST closed by thanking the committee and standing ready to provide the requested follow‑up documentation and draft statutory language for the committee to consider during HB2 deliberations.